Cloth article cleaning tool



Oct. 19, 1965 K. J. HAFFNER ETAL 3,

CLOTH ARTICLE CLEANING TOOL Filed Dec. 7, 1962 INVENTOR. KENNETH l-IAFF'NER ROBERT J. FAY BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,212,303 CLOTH ARTICLE CLEANING TOOL Kenneth J. Hatfner, 11463 196th St., St. Albans, N.Y., and Robert .I. Fay, 20 Ronald Lane, Sayville, N.Y. Filed Dec. 7, 1962, Ser. No. 243,131 6 Claims. (Cl. 68235) This invention relates to a tool adapted to facilitate the cleaning of soiled cloth articles including for example, baby diapers, and more particularly to such a tool which is used in conjunction with the bowl of a Water closet or the like for holding the article during soaking and flushing and, for subsequently squeezing excess water therefrom.

Various arrangements heretofore proposed for such functions have been burdened by undue complexity, by susceptibility to corrosion and by lack of adaptability to a wide range of washing environments. Many are relatively difiicult to use, cause damage to the treated article and do not aid in the squeezing or wringing process.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a tool of marked simplicity which is corrosion resistant, adaptable to a wide variety of washing environments, simple and safe to use, void of damage producing elements and effective to eliminate the time consuming and unpleasant tasks involved in manually cleaning soiled articles such as diapers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a single cleaning tool of the type described which facilitates both flushing and squeezing functions.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention, which consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described, will be illustrated in connection with the cleaning of soiled diapers.

Serving to illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the invention are the drawings of which:

FIGURES 1 and 2 are front and side elevational views respectively of the tool according to the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 illustrating the tool in its role of gripping a soiled article such as a diaper;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view illustrating the use of the tool in soaking operations; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view illustrating the tool according to the invention when used in squeezing operatrons.

As seen in the figures the tool according to the invention comprises a member having a generally bow-shaped section dimensioned for manual gripping and an integral clamping and squeezing section formed by cooperating spaced extensions 14 and of the bow legs 12 and 13 respectively.

The extension 15 of leg 13 is of arcuate shape and cooperates with extension 14 to define, when the bow is compressed, a space 16 adapted to receive one end of the diaper 20. The member is preferably made of resilient, corrosive resistant material and it has been found that acrylic plastic provides an effective combination of these properties.

Facilitating manual compression of the bow section 10 are arcuate sections 12a and 13a of the legs 12 and 13 respectively, these sections being dimensioned to provide a convenient hand grip.

The extension 14 includes a straight segment 14c connected to an arcuate section 14b which is connected in 3,212,303 Patented Oct. 19, 1965 turn to an orthogonal arcuate section or loop 14a. Section 14c cooperates with the looped segment 15 in clamping the diaper 20 as may be seen clearly in FIGURE 3. This clamping function is supplemented by the bearing surface afiected by segment 14b.

When manually applied compressive force is released from bow 10 the diaper end 20' is resiliently clamped as described above. The degree of resilience is selected to be sufficiently high to securely hold the diaper during flushing operations while at the same time being not so high as to interfere with the pulling of the diaper 20 through the space 16 to provide a squeezing action for removing excess water (see FIGURE 5 Releasably clamped to the closed end of bow 10 is a hook member 25, pivotal with respect to the bow and preferably made of acrylic plastic. The hook is adapted to engage the seat 26 of the bowl of a water closet or the like whereby the diaper 20, clamped as described above, may be left unattended during soaking and flushing. When these operations are completed the clamped end of diaper 20 is pulled through the space 16 whereupon the diaper is ready for regular laundering.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A fabric treating tool adapted to facilitate the soaking, rinsing and wringing of soiled articles of cloth such as diapers, comprising a compressible plastic bow adapted for manual gripping and having integral extensions, one of said extensions including an arcuate clamping portion inwardly disposed towards said other extension, said other extension including a generally straight clamping portion, said extensions being laterally oifset so as to move in adjacent planes and into overlapping relationship to define an increasing space therebetween for receiving one section of said soiled article when said bow is compressed to clamp said article therebetween when said bow is released and to wring said article when it is being pulled therethrough, said other extension further including a downwardly disposed arcuate portion depending transversely of and underlying said inwardly disposed arcuate portion for retaining said extensions in laterally fixed relation, said bow having a resilience sufiiciently large to securely clamp said article during rinsing yet sufliciently small so as to permit the pulling of said article through said space for removal of excess water.

2. A fabric treating tool adapted to facilitate the soaking, rinsing and wringing of soiled articles of cloth such as diapers, comprising a compressible resilient bow adapted for manual gripping and having integral extensions, one of said extensions including an arcuate clamping portion, said other extension including a generally straight clamping portion, said extensions being laterally offset so as to move in adjacent planes and into overlapping relationship to define an increasing space therebetween for receiving one section of said soiled article when said bow is compressed, to clamp said article therebetween when said bow is released and to wring said article when said article is pulled therethrough.

3. A tool as defined in claim 2 in which said bow and extensions are comprised of an acrylic plastic.

4. A tool as defined in claim 3 including a connector having one looped end releasably clamped to said bow and a larger loop at the distal end for attachment to the bowl of a water closet.

5. A tool as defined in claim 1 including connector means movably attached to said bow for connecting said bow to a cleaning device.

6. A tool as defined in claim 1 in which said bow comprises an acrylic plastic having an intrinsic resilience adapted to provide said sufliciently large and sufi'iciently small resilience.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 252,556 1/82 Warren 4231 Ruff 15167.2

Peterson 24 131 Geiger 24-131 X Ehrhardt 68--235 X Krzanowski '15236 Hodgson.

Platt 68235 X Garrett 15--236 485,758 11/92 Delug 24-261 10 IRVING BUNEVICH, Primmy Examiner 

1. A FABRIC TREATING TOOL ADAPTED TO FACILITATE THE SOAKING, RINSING AND WRINGING OF SOILED ARTICLES OF CLOTH SUCH AS DIAPERS, COMPRISING A COMPRESSIBLE PLASTIC BOW ADAPTED FRO MANUAL GRIPPING AND HAVING INTEGRAL EXTENSIONS, ONE OF SAID EXTENSIONS INCLUDING AN ARCUATE CLAMPING PORTION INWARDLY DISPOSED TOWARDS SAID OTHER EXTENSION, SAID OTHER EXTENSION INCLUDING A GENERALLY STRAIGHT CLAMPING PORTION, SAID EXTENSION BEING LATERALLY OFFSET SO AS TO MOVE IN ADJACENT PLANES AND INTO OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP TO DEFINE AN INCREASING SPACE THEREBETWEEN FOR RECEIVING ONE SECTION OF SAID SOILED ARTICLE WHEN SAID BOW IS COMPRESSED TO CLAMP SAID ARTICLE THEREBETWEEN WHEN SAID BOW IS RELEASED AND TO WRING SAID ARTICLE WHEN IT IS BEING PULLED THERETHROUGH, SAID OTHER EXTESION FURGHER INCLUDING A DOWNWARDLY DIPOSED ARCUATE PORTION DEPENDING TRANSVERSELY OF AND UNDERLYING SAID INWRDLY DISPOSED ARCUATE PORTION FOR RETAINING SAID EXTENSIONS IN LATERALLY FIXED RELATION, SAID BOW HAVING A RESILIENCE SUFFICIENTLY LARGE TO SECURELY CLAMP SAID ARTICLE DURING RINSING YET SUFFICIENTLY SMALL SO AS TO PERMIT THE PULLING OF SAID ARTICLE THROUGH SAID SPACE FOR REMOVAL OF EXCESS WATER. 